Software for illustrators: commissions, licensing and approvals

Illustrators sell to two kinds of client. A personal commission, like a pet portrait or a tabletop character, comes through Instagram or a commission sheet and is paid upfront. A publisher, an agency or a brand pays more, takes longer to approve, and asks what it can do with the image. Both go wrong in the same places: starting before you're paid, a fourth round of changes nobody priced, and an image licensed for social posts that ends up on packaging.

A commission, from waitlist to delivery

1. Your Link in Bio page shows your commission sheet, whether you're open or on a waitlist, and a "Request a commission" button. While you're closed, an email signup block collects people for the next opening.
2. The form asks for the type (bust, full body, scene), number of characters, background, deadline and use. If they pick commercial use, a conditional question asks where the image will appear. Forms can't take uploads, so ask for a link to their reference board.
3. Send a proposal with the illustration, extra characters and background as lines, two revision rounds at the sketch stage (example), and the license as its own line. Personal commissions pay in full upfront; client work pays 50% to start (example).
4. For client work, the accepted proposal creates a signature request for your agreement: deliverables, revision rounds, the license (platforms, territory, term), credit line, kill fee, and when the license starts, usually on final payment.
5. Create the invoice from the proposal and pick up the pencil once it shows Paid.
6. Upload the sketch as a PNG or JPG for approval in the client's portal. They pin a comment on the hand that looks wrong or approve the version with their name. Do the same for inks and flat colors; each upload is a new version (up to 50), and the approved one is locked.
7. A change requested after the sketch is approved is billable: log the time from the task on your board and put it on a new invoice as unbilled time.
8. Deliver the final file from your own storage. Approvals are for review, so upload a watermarked or smaller version there.

Licensing vs. work made for hire

Under US copyright law you own the copyright in your illustration from the moment it's fixed, even when a client paid for it. What the client gets is whatever you sign. These points come from the US Copyright Office:

• Selling the original or the file isn't selling the copyright: owning a copy of a work doesn't give its owner the copyright.
• A nonexclusive license (the client may use the image, and so may you or others) doesn't require a written agreement, but writing it down is how you limit it to certain platforms and a term. A transfer of copyright, including an exclusive license, is valid only in writing and signed by you.
• A commissioned illustration is a work made for hire only if it falls into one of nine categories in the Copyright Act, such as a contribution to a collective work (a magazine or an anthology) or a supplementary work (illustrations for a book by another author), and you and the client both sign a written agreement that expressly calls it a work made for hire.
• A pet portrait or a standalone poster usually fits none of the nine categories, so a contract that calls it "work for hire" can fail to make it one. A client who wants to own that kind of image needs a written assignment instead.
• When a work is made for hire, the client is legally its author and first copyright owner.

The practical version: price the license as its own line (example: social media and website, North America, 12 months), and price a full buyout or a work-for-hire deal much higher. When the client later wants the image on packaging, send a new proposal with only that license.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

A typical week

• Monday: you open commissions at 10 a.m. with an Instagram story. By evening the form has 14 requests and you pick five.
• Tuesday: five proposals go out from your portrait template, and four are paid in full by card before Wednesday.
• Wednesday: a publisher's art director pins two comments on the cover sketch.
• Thursday: version 3 of the cover sketch is approved and inks start. A personal client asks for a fourth change, so a one-hour invoice goes out.
• Friday: you log a brush pack and print samples in Expenses. The waitlist signups from your bio page are already in Contacts for next month's opening.

All 13 tools, one by one

What each tool does for an illustrator taking commissions and client work:

• Link in Bio: your commission sheet, open or closed status, the request button and a waitlist signup block that adds each person to your contacts.
• Short Links: a QR code on your artist alley table banner that opens the commission form, and one in print packaging that brings buyers back for a custom piece.
• Forms: the commission request with type, characters, background, deadline and personal or commercial use, plus a field for their reference board link since forms take no uploads.
• Scheduling: rarely needed for personal commissions. Useful for a 20-minute kickoff call with an art director, or live portrait slots at an event with a fixed deposit.
• Proposals: the illustration, extra characters, background, revision rounds and the license with its platforms and term, each as a separate line.
• E-Signatures: the commission or licensing agreement, so a transfer or exclusive license is in writing and signed, which the Copyright Act requires.
• Document Tracking: your portfolio or rate sheet for art directors as a tracked PDF, with a watermark and downloads turned off when it shows unpublished work.
• Screen Recording: a short walkthrough comparing two color options for a client who wants to hear the reasoning, with their comments pinned to a timestamp.
• Notes & Boards: a commission queue board (requested, paid, sketch, inks, color, delivered) with a page per client for the brief and the reference link.
• Time Tracking: hours on client jobs past the rounds you quoted, added to an invoice as unbilled time. On flat-price commissions it shows which types pay best per hour.
• Invoicing: full payment upfront for personal commissions, a 50% deposit and balance for client work, with a card link and your Venmo or Zelle details.
• Expenses: brushes, software, a tablet, printing, convention table fees and shipping, marked deductible or not with the receipt attached.
• Automations: a thank-you with your current turnaround when someone submits the commission form, and a follow-up 3 days after a quote is sent, skipped once it's accepted.

SoloWOS or Tally: which fits

Choose Tally or Google Forms if:

• Clients must upload reference images with the request, and you want payment taken inside the form (Tally does both on its free plan).
• You want responses in a Google Sheet and nothing else (Google Forms).
• You only take personal commissions with no license to write down.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• The form should lead to a quote with the license, a signed agreement, sketch approvals and an invoice without copying anything between apps.
• You work with art directors who need to approve versions with their name.
• You'd rather keep one waitlist in your contacts. See the Tally alternative and the Google Forms alternative.

If you sell through a commission marketplace, check its site for fees and buyer protections; SoloWOS doesn't bring you clients. Prices and features come from each company's own pages as SoloWOS last checked them in October 2026. Confirm them on their site before you decide.

Start with these three

Link in Bio with the commission button, Forms for the request, and Proposals with your portrait price list saved as a template. Add approvals in the client portal with your first art director.

Free tools that help

• Freelance rate calculator to check that a $150 bust covers the hours it takes.
• Project cost calculator for a book cover with sketches, inks, color and revisions.
• Payment fee calculator for what a card payment leaves you on a small commission.
• QR code generator for convention banners and print inserts.
• Free proposal template to adapt into a commission quote with a license line.

What SoloWOS won't do for an illustrator

• No store for prints or digital downloads, and no slot counter that closes commissions automatically.
• No file uploads in forms, so references come as links.
• Approvals take PNG, JPG, WebP or PDF up to 25 MB: no PSD or Procreate files, and no high-resolution delivery.
• No licensing contract written for you. The freelance contract template is general, so add your license terms and have a lawyer review them.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.